World Urdu Conference from today, Pakistanis did not get Visa

March 24, 2018

To promote Urdu in the era of globalisation, the fifth World Urdu Conference is going to begin today and see the participation of Urdu poets, writers and experts from 18 countries but Pakistan will not participating in it.

In a press conference here on Friday, National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language Director Irteja Karim said the three-day conference will be inaugurated by Minister of State for Human Resource Development Satyapal Singh and presided over by Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi. The council is organising the conference.

Mr Karim said 24-25 people from the US, Canada, Bangladesh, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Doha and Qatar and others would be participating . As many as 40-50 people from outside Delhi will also participate in the conference.

In response to a question, Mr Karim said people from Pakistan were also invited but they could not get Visa. When asked about the reason, he said that due to government policies, the delay in the process of getting the political approval and the Home ministry’s delay in the investigation process could be the main reasons.

He said people used to come from Pakistan before but there has been difficulty in getting Visa for the past two years. Mr Karim said, “People of other countries born in Pakistan also could not get visa clearance. It is unfortunate and hopefully more people will be able to join.”